This invention relates generally to fishing apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for automatically bobbing fishing bait and signaling when a fish has taken such bait.
One of the most elementary methods for catching fish involves manually causing a baited hook on a fishing line to bob up and down in the water. Movement of the bait attracts the fish which then swallows the baited hook. The fisherman, aware of the fish taking the baited hook by a tug on the line, pulls on the line to set the hook and reel in the fish. This method is particuarly useful in ice fishing where fishing is accomplished through a hole in the ice. The fisherman is located directly over the hole in the ice and the vertical bobbing of the baited hook is readily effected over the area where the fish are located. However, since the bobbing is done manually only one hold may be attended at any one time. To expand the number of holes that may be attended by a single fisherman, various mechanisms for bobbing a fishing line have been proposed. Typically such mechanisms rely on wind action to cause bobbing and are therefore ineffective in sheltered areas or at locations where there is no wind. Moreover, with such mechanisms, signaling of a fish taking the bait has required complicated structures for sensing fishing line tension or releasing a signal flag for example.